Karewa ('), is a small, , predator free wildlife sanctuary in the Bay of Plenty. It is about off Matakana Island and administered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

(DoC), with Ngāti Ranginui. Its main species are tuatara and flesh-footed shearwaters. A legend of Taurikura relates how the tuatara on Karewa are descended from a chief's errant daughter.

Natural history

Karewa is dominated by Taupata shrubland, growing on a deep friable soil on its south and west slopes, underlain by Pleistocene Minden

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

. Under the Wildlife Sanctuary (Karewa Island) Order 1965, landing is prohibited without a DoC permit, as it is a Government Purpose Wildlife Sanctuary under the Reserves Act 1977. The shearwaters nest in tunnels all over the island, and breed from November to May. Many Diving petrels breed from August to February and grey-faced petrels / ōi also nest on Karewa, which used to be a traditional source of these titi (

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) and also of

pāua Pāua is the Māori name given to three New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, ''Haliotis''), known in the United States and Austral ...

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and kina. The island is visited by

kekeno ''Arctocephalus forsteri'' (common names include the Australasian fur seal, South Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Antipodean fur seal, or long-nosed fur seal) is a species of fur seal found mainly around southern Australia and New ...

seals and is a popular dive site, known for its variety of fish.

Wreck

On the north side of the island, a large boiler remains from the steamer ''Taranaki'', wrecked in fog on 29 November 1878, on the way from Auckland to Tauranga and ports to the south. There were no deaths, as the 75 passengers were able to reach the island. The ''Taranaki'' was a 415 grt steamer, launched in 1865 at the Castle Yard of Blackwood & Gordon in

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for the NZ Steam Navigation Co. She had previously sunk on Boat Harbour Rock (now called Taranaki Rock), at the entrance to Tory Channel / Kura Te Au, on 19 August 1868, but had been taken over by the Union Company and raised and refitted in September 1869. The Court of Inquiry found that the captain should have taken depth soundings and charged him the court costs, but didn't suspend him. However, as the captain was popular for introducing regular shipping calls at Tauranga he was given a presentation of appreciation a few weeks later. The channel between the island and Matakana is about deep.

References

{{coord, -37.53012, 176.13136, region:NZ_type:isle, display=title Uninhabited islands of New Zealand Volcanic islands of New Zealand Pleistocene Oceania Islands of the Bay of Plenty Region Western Bay of Plenty District

Natural history

Wreck

See also

References